My eighth-grade science teacher is finally getting his wish. In 1964, the decade of the civil-rights movement, his solution to America's "Negro problem" was "Send them back to Africa." He may get his wish in 2009, although it masquerades as a different problem. 

America, a great nation that prides itself as the land of freedom and opportunity — which it has been for refugees from the Liberian civil war — now wants to solve its immigration problem by sending legal, educated, tax-paying people back to their country of origin in Africa. 

After civil war erupted in Liberia in 1980, approximately 3,600 Liberians came to the United States as refugees. The United States Immigration Act of 1990 created Temporary Protected Status for aliens who were unable to return to their home countries because of unsafe conditions. This allowed eligible refugees to stay and work in the United States. Yearly, Liberians must register for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), paying filing fees to renew their status and work authorization.

Bush extended stay till March 31, 2009
When the civil war in Liberia ended in 2004, the Department of Homeland Security re-designated Liberia for TPS because of the unsafe conditions of the country. In 2006, the secretary of Homeland Security announced the termination of TPS for Liberians; however, President Bush extended the stay of Liberians with the Deferred Enforced Departure until March 31, 2009. 

At this time, Liberia continues to be an unsafe country. The Advocates for Human Rights/Dorsey & Whitney Report states that housing is in short supply, unemployment is rampant, the rape of women and children is a serious problem and the legal system barely functions. The Deferred Enforced Departure needs to be extended. Better yet, these people should be granted permanent residencies leading to citizenship. The Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act, S. 656, and the Liberian Refugee Immigration Protection Act, H.R. 1941, would allow eligible Liberians to apply for lawful permanent resident status.

Liberians should be allowed to stay based not only on our commitment to humanitarianism, but also based on our own needs. While in America, many Liberians have done what refugees and immigrants are so often good at doing: They took unskilled jobs, they paid taxes and they went to school. Over the years, they finished school, they got skilled jobs and they bought homes. They pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. 

Many work in health care
In Minnesota, many of those boots have been white since many Liberians have filled skilled technical jobs in health care. The medical community is worried that it can't find qualified people to replace the Liberians if Homeland Security insists on sending them back to Africa. These are jobs that won't be refilled quickly even in today's economy, says Mary Edwards, a vice president of Fairview Health Services. 

I have begun to wonder if the problem with immigrants is that so many have done so darn well here in America, and people who are born here get jealous. I also worry if our immigration service is so broken that Homeland Security might need to demonstrate its efficiency and show it has a handle on immigration by rounding up people who can easily be found — not only do Liberians have Social Security numbers, but they have permanent addresses. 

Please, Americans, let's rally for these people. More information, including how to take action, is available here.

Reva Rasmussen is a nurse and writer in the Twin Cities.